Manziel becomes the first freshman to win the Heisman. Actually he is a redshirt freshman, meaning he attended Texas A&M and practiced with the team but did not play last year. That still makes him the most inexperienced college player to win the sport's most prestigious award.

In a gracious acceptance speech, Manziel said that he'd hoped for this even as a child growing up first in Tyler, Texas and later in the small town of Kerrville, Texas.

"This was a moment I've dreamed about since I was a kid, pretending I was Doug Flutie throwing Hail Marys with my dad."

Manziel won every region of Heisman voting except the Midwest, losing to Te'o by three votes there.

This season, he set a SEC record with 4,600 total yards. Johnny Football as he has become known, threw for 3,419 yards and 24 TDs and ran for 1,181 yards and 19 TDs.

Now, you can call him Johnny Heisman. Manziel thanked his parents, grandparents, high school and college coaches and teammates—all of whom he said have poured into his life and his career. He was a competitive kid who could never get enough of the game.

"Grandma, I'm so sorry for all the things we broke in the house," he joked.

Manziel sparked the Aggies to a 10-2 record, with a 6-2 mark in the school’s first season in the SEC. The quarterback’s signature moment of the season came on Nov. 10 when he led the Aggies to a 29-24 win on the road over then-No. 1 Alabama.

Manziel also rememberd teammate, Joseph Villavisencio, a senior offensive lineman who died in a car accident in December 2011. To Villavisencio's parents he said: "If I had a son, I'd want him to be exactly like him. I know he's in a better place."

For Manziel, there may never be a better day in his football career than this one.

His next game will come on Jan 4. against Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.

Manziel is the second Texas A&M player to win the Heisman. John David Crow won the award in 1957.

On Friday, Manziel reflected on his season and on how far he had come with the help of his teammates.

"It's surreal for me to sit here and think about that this early in my career," he said. "With what me and my teammates have gone through, with how they've played and how they've helped me to get to this point, it's just a testament to how good they are and how good they've been this year.

"Without them I wouldn't be here and that's the real story to all this."